[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 114 (Monday, June 15, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 32631-32632]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-15833]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

25 CFR Part 11

RIN 1076-AD76


Law and Order on Indian Reservations; Correction

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs.

ACTION: Correction to proposed regulations.

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SUMMARY: This document contains corrections to the proposed regulations 
which were published Friday, July 5, 1996 (61 FR 35158) and corrections 
to the proposed regulations which were published Wednesday, February 
26, 1997 (62 FR 8665) and Friday, November 14, 1997 (62 FR 61057). The 
proposed rule amends regulations governing Courts of Indian Offenses.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before July 15, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments are to be mailed to Bettie Rushing, Office of 
Tribal Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1849 C Street, NW, MS 4641-
MB, Washington, DC 20240; or, hand delivered to Room 4641 at the same 
address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bettie Rushing, Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (202) 208-4400.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The proposed rule that is the subject of these corrections 
supersedes 25 CFR 11.100(a) and affects those tribes that have 
exercised their inherent sovereignty by removing the names of those 
tribes from the list of Courts of Indian Offenses.
    The Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, or his designee, has 
received law and order codes adopted by the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of 
Indians, the Cheyenne--Arapaho Tribe, the Citizen Band of Potawatomi 
Indians, the Iowa Tribe, the Kaw Tribe, the Kickapoo Tribe, the Otoe-
Missouri Tribe, and the Pawnee Tribe, all of Oklahoma, the Quechan 
Indian Tribe in Arizona and California, and the Yomba Shoshone Tribe in 
Nevada, in accordance with their constitutions and by-laws and approved 
by the appropriate bureau official. The Assistant Secretary-Indian 
Affairs recognizes that these courts were established in accordance 
with the tribe's constitutions and by-laws.
    Inclusion in Sec. 11.100, Where are Courts of Indian Offenses 
established?, does not defeat the inherent sovereignty of a tribe to 
establish tribal courts and exercise jurisdiction under tribal law. 
Tillett v. Lujan, 931 F.2d 636, 640 (10th Cir. 1991) (CFR courts 
``retain some characteristics of an agency of the federal government'' 
but they ``also function as tribal courts''); Combrink v. Allen, 20 
Indian L. Rep. 6029, 6030 (Ct. Ind. App., Tonkawa, Mar. 5, 1993) (CFR 
court is a ``federally administered tribal court''); Ponca Tribal 
Election Board v. Snake, 17 Indian L. Rep. 6085, 6088 (Ct. Ind. App., 
Ponca, Nov. 10, 1988) (``The Courts of Indian Offenses act as tribal 
courts since they are exercising the sovereign authority of the tribe 
for which the court sits.''). Such exercise of inherent sovereignty and 
the establishment of tribal courts shall comply with the requirements 
in 25 CFR 11.100(c).

Need for Correction

    As published, the proposed rule contains errors which may prove to 
be misleading and are in need of clarification.

[[Page 32632]]

Correction of Publication

    Accordingly, the publication on November 14, 1997 of the 
corrections to the proposed regulations, (62 FR 61057) is further 
corrected as follows:


Sec. 11.100(a)  [Corrected]

    On page 61057 and 61058, Sec. 11.100 (a) is corrected to read as 
follows:


Sec. 11.100  Where are Courts of Indian Offenses established?

    (a) Unless indicated otherwise in this part, the regulations in 
this part apply to the Indian country (as defined in 18 U.S.C. 1151) 
occupied by the following tribes:
    (1) Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians (Minnesota).
    (2) Te-Moak Band of Western Shoshone Indians (Nevada).
    (3) Kootenai Tribe (Idaho).
    (4) Shoalwater Bay Tribe (Washington).
    (5) Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (North Carolina).
    (6) Ute Mountain Ute Tribe (Colorado).
    (7) Hoopa Valley Tribe, Yurok Tribe and Coast Indian Community of 
California (California jurisdiction limited to special fishing 
regulations).
    (8) Louisiana Area (includes Coushatta and other tribes located in 
the State of Louisiana which occupy Indian country and which accept the 
application of this part); Provided that this part shall not apply to 
any Louisiana tribe other than the Coushatta Tribe until notice of such 
application has been published in the Federal Register.
    (9) For the following tribes located in the former Oklahoma 
Territory (Oklahoma):
    (i) Apache Tribe of Oklahoma.
    (ii) Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma.
    (iii) Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma (Except Comanche Children's 
Court).
    (iv) Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma.
    (v) Fort Sill Apache Tribe of Oklahoma.
    (vi) Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma.
    (vii) Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma.
    (viii) Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma.
    (ix) Wichita and Affiliated Tribes of Oklahoma.
    (10) For the following tribes located in the former Indian 
Territory (Oklahoma):
    (i) Chickasaw Nation.
    (ii) Choctaw Nation.
    (iii) Thlopthlocco Tribal Town.
    (iv) Seminole Nation.
    (v) Eastern Shawnee Tribe.
    (vi) Miami Tribe.
    (vii) Modoc Tribe.
    (viii) Ottawa Tribe.
    (ix) Peoria Tribe.
    (x) Quapaw Tribe.
    (xi) Wyandotte Tribe.
    (xii) Seneca-Cayuga Tribe.
    (xiii) Osage Tribe.
* * * * *
    Dated: June 4, 1998.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 98-15833 Filed 6-12-98; 8:45 am]
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